Rockford native Leon Smith builds on area’s basketball tradition

Wednesday

Dec 1, 2010 at 12:01 AMDec 1, 2010 at 12:13 AM

ROCKFORD — Thirteen years ago, Leon Smith’s service in the Air Force came to an end and he was given the choice to relocate from an air base in Japan to anywhere he wanted in the world. He chose to come home to Rockford.

Kevin Haas

ROCKFORD — Thirteen years ago, Leon Smith’s service in the Air Force came to an end and he was given the choice to relocate from an air base in Japan to anywhere he wanted in the world. He chose to come home to Rockford.

The decision was easy for Smith, 39, who has dedicated his efforts to use basketball, a sport that helped forge his character as a young man, as a means to make the city where he was born and raised a place that people are proud to call home.

“I’m prideful of my city,” Smith said of his decision to return. “I just wanted to come home and do my part, to try to be an asset to the recreation and entertainment in Rockford.”

Bring back a pro team
Smith is now one of the driving forces behind an effort to bring professional basketball back to Rockford. He is one of three co-owners, along with Alvin Pitts and Melvin Smith, of the Rockford Riverdawgs, an American Basketball Association franchise. The team is set to kick off its first season about a year from now.

“I remember going to see the Lightning play as a kid; it was an awesome feeling going to see a professional game,” Smith said. “For me, never having seen an NBA game as a kid, that was the ultimate. That’s something that I want to bring back here to Rockford.”

The Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association operated for 20 years until the team folded in 2006.

He knows the game
The move into professional basketball ownership is a natural one for Smith, who, even while organizing recreational leagues for the Rockford Park District, tried to provide a professional-feeling product for players.

Smith spearheaded the start of a recreational league at the Washington Park Community Center, which was respected by many of the area’s top men’s players as the city’s premier place to play. The league kept stats on player performances, gave out trophies for MVP and all-league performances, and even held an all-star game complete with a three-point contest, slam-dunk contest and half-time music performance. It’s the type of spectacle not typical found in a recreational league.

“I always wanted to see a high level of basketball. When we started the Washington Park league, we wanted it to be the best and wanted people to keep coming,” Smith said. “I wanted fans to see a product on the court that they could enjoy. We wanted it to look professional, and we wanted it to feel professional.”

The league even drew a few fans from surrounding neighborhoods, including nearby Concord Commons, the former Rockford Housing Authority Development.

“We had people that played at 6 (p.m.) that would come at 1 (p.m.) to watch. You could see that people really enjoyed it,” Smith said.

Helping in any way he can
He no longer organizes the league as his plate is full with the Riverdawgs and coaching Keith High School’s boys basketball team, all while owning his own business, Babbage’s Computer Solutions, and working on a Master of Divinity from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard.

Smith says his pursuit of the divinity degree is not about becoming a preacher. He would like to be able to help in the community in shelters or through counseling, whatever he can offer.

“My thing is service,” Smith said. “I just want to be able to help my community and make it a stronger place.”

Smith’s past ventures include organizing the first Rock River Valley Senior All-Star Game in 2009, which gave high school seniors the chance to showcase their talents on the floor of the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, where the NBA’s Bucks play. He organized the event along with Doc Cornell after the annual Rising Stars Classic didn’t hold games.

Smith’s newest project is an effort to create the Rock River Valley Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, an exploit that is still in its infancy.

His goal is to one day create a place that honors the area’s standout prep athletes and coaches and keeps record of the region’s statistical leaders. He also envisions a museum that shares its site with a restaurant and includes a small theater to play film of some of the area’s classic games, like Boylan’s 83-77 upset victory over No. 1-ranked Chicago King on Jan. 17, 1992.

“We have a lot of local talent,” Smith said. “I would like to have a location where people can come and see these records, see these games and experience some of the things we did.”

Smith, who played high school and college ball and also competed semiprofessionally in places like Mexico and Korea, doesn’t see a place for himself in the sports hall of fame he would like to create.

“Knowing that I’m helping is enough for me.”

Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1354.